The King Called Deeva

There have ever been 5 instances of a female being crowned king in history – Christina of Sweden, Jadwiga of Poland, Mary of Hungary, and Maria Theresa, who ruled over 11 kingdoms. Arguments still rage on if a woman can be described as king though.

But not in the case of this lady. She has risen with incredible confidence to lay claim to a throne that even those before her tremble at the sight of.

Deeva, born Faith Akwaugo Anyaoha, is a 21 year old femcee, who is out to disrupt the current order and bully her way to getting a seat at the table of wordsmiths and microphone warriors.

And we find this interesting.

Currently a final year student at the University of Lagos, the Imo born lyricist, started out as a member of The Redeemed Evangelical Ministry’s children choir at the age of 8. As a teenager she fell in love with Rhythm and Blues, but got drawn to rap after she started listening to Nas, Tupac, Biggie, and G- Unit. In her words:

I saw myself falling in love with the energetic and dynamic sound of Hiphop. I also fell in love with the deep messages that these rappers had used hip hop to project and send to millions of fans all over the world and I one day dreamt that I could use hip hop to portray not just my emotions and true feelings, but also the messages that the world needs to hear.

In 2013, Deeva decided to do an experiment with her musical calling. She dropped a cover of Djinee’s“Overkilling” which she titled “68”.

This recording went all the way to #1 on 360Nobs. It propelled her as she went on to win the Annual Universities Crest Award (ANUCA) for Best Student Female Artiste. She realized he definitely had something going on, but school was one challenge that had to be dealt with first. So she took a break from music till she was done with University.

According to Deeva, her current music is inspired by the works of some of the big names in the industry – Lauryn Hill, Remy Ma, Estelle, Nas, T.I and M.I, though she is also a stan for Beyonce. She describes herself as a conscious artist who makes sure she passes a message that touches present day realities of her listeners through her words. As for her sound, she has this to say:

My sound is the kind of music that’s authoritative, fearless, can get your head moving and body grooving but still get your mind thinking and also pass the required message along

I’m also inspired by my life experiences. The rough times I’ve had, my love life, the good and bad people I’ve met, the lowest times of my life, the best moments of my life, every single part of my experiences inspire my music. I just want to use my music to voice feelings, experiences and messages to every soul who listens to my music.

Other femcees better look up, because this “king” is soon come and she is not going to take prisoners. You can follow her coming and updates about her future works on Twitter and Instagram as @DeevaOfficial.